England football faces biggest trade deficit in transfer market: Report

New Delhi: According to a report released by the banking company Barclays on Thursday, it's quite clear that England has the biggest trade deficit in the world football transfer market.

The bank analyses that after a record summer spending during the transfer window, English clubs have a combined deficit of £379m.

"While English football has run up the biggest trade deficit in world football transfers, the overall income it generates far outstrips the cost of importing players from overseas.” said, Chris Lee, head of professional sports banking at Barclays.

£579m have been spent by English clubs on overseas players, whereas, £200m of talent has gone from England to clubs abroad.

Arguably the most popular English club worldwide, Manchester United ran up the highest trade deficit in the English Premier League football, during the last transfer window, with their arch-rivals City standing third in the list.

United sealed the top spot with with a £119.3m deficit, as they spent £137.3m on importing foreign players, compared with receiving £18m from players who left the club.

Southampton are placed second in the table with second-highest foreign trade deficit in the league at £51m.

The report said that television rights to countries outside England were more than £744m a year, and sponsorships from overseas businesses will contribute more than £343m in the 2014/15 season.

However, the report says that the sponsorship total could be much more, as some amounts are not disclosed.